2014 Humanitarian Hero Niroshan Hapuarachchi

“I wanted to enjoy my job by helping people who need other’s support to stand by themselves.”

For Niroshan, being a humanitarian means being understanding. His goal is to provide assistance to people so that they are able to become independent.

In his job as a project coordinator for IOM, Niroshan helps voluntary returnees with the reintegration process and runs awareness campaigns for community leaders, potential migrants, government officers and boat owners to help promote safe migration.

One of his most memorable experiences while working with IOM was helping a trafficked person to reintegrate. The woman and her children had not had a livelihood or a home, and with the help of Niroshan they were able to find a job and land, build a house, and even a school for her child.

“The principal of the government school agreed to accept the child for the school and the family could think about the future.”